A life-or-death crisis

By evening, the members of the Fire Hammer Squad had eaten and drunk their fill and were well rested. They occasionally peered down through their binoculars, while only Luo Yuan remained seated cross-legged in cultivation.

"Captain, look! A beast general rank Tiger Cat!" Luo Feng, who had been keeping watch over their surroundings, suddenly called out.

Hearing him, Luo Yuan snapped his eyes open and looked down with everyone else.

More than ten monsters had appeared at the edge of the street below. Their bodies were covered in spots, and at first glance, they resembled tigers. They were members of the Tiger Cat family of feline monsters. Every one of them was fairly large, and one even had two tails!

"They really are Tiger Cats! So it's true that they don't like living in packs. That Beast General-level Tiger Cat only has sixteen ordinary Beast Soldier-level Monsters around it." Gao Feng laughed. "Brothers, get ready to move."

"Let's go."

At Gao Feng's command, they immediately left the rooftop one after another. This time, they didn't open fire in advance... they were afraid of failing to kill the Tiger Cat and scaring it away! A Beast General-level Monster accompanied by only a dozen or so underlings was a rare sight in a small county town.

The seven of them reached the ground floor. Watching the two-tailed Tiger Cat leisurely strolling along with its underlings, Luo Yuan sneered.

"Captain, let me handle this beast general rank Tiger Cat. I've been itching for a fight after sitting on that rooftop," Luo Yuan said.

Gao Feng looked at Luo Yuan's confident expression and nodded. With Luo Yuan's strength, killing this Tiger Cat would be no problem at all.

Whoosh!

The instant Gao Feng nodded, Luo Yuan vanished and appeared before the pack of Tiger Cats.

"Roar!" The pack's leader, the Twin-Tailed Tiger Cat, bristled all over at the sight and immediately let out a furious roar. The sixteen Tiger Cats surrounding it also roared in wild fury. Their deafening cries echoed between the buildings on either side of the street as the powerful, agile Tiger Cats lunged at the human before them.

"Get out of my way, you small fry!"

Luo Yuan unleashed his Flowing Light movement technique, appearing among the sixteen Tiger Cats as though he had teleported. The instant he drew his Blood Shadow Battle Blade, dozens of crisscrossing Blade Arcs tore toward the Beast Soldier-level Tiger Cats. Blood sprayed everywhere. Before the sixteen monsters could react, their heads were severed and dropped to the ground. Their faces still wore savage expressions, but the life slowly faded from their eyes.

Holding his Blood Shadow Battle Blade, Luo Yuan looked at the two-tailed Tiger Cat, which was watching him warily, ready to flee at any moment.

"Your turn!" Luo Yuan knew that Beast General-level Monsters usually possessed some intelligence. He had no intention of letting this nearly secured kill escape.

Luo Yuan held his Blood Shadow Battle Blade horizontally, recalling the eighteen blade moves in the first layer of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade. He decided to test their power on this beast general rank Tiger Cat.

"Die, you beast!"

With a shift of his feet, Luo Yuan instantly appeared beside the two-tailed Tiger Cat. His Blood Shadow Battle Blade became a cold arc of light as he delivered a forehand rising slash toward its throat. The Tiger Cat actually raised both claws to block, but how could its claws withstand the sharpness of the Type A9 Blood Shadow Battle Blade? Both were cleanly severed and fell to the ground. The tremendous force carried by the blade split its head neatly open from jaw to skull, sending its brains splattering.

Thud! The two-tailed Tiger Cat's enormous body crashed heavily to the ground. It died without making a sound.

The members of the Fire Hammer Squad stared, dumbfounded. Only a few breaths had passed between Luo Yuan's first attack and the end of the fight. His method of hunting monsters was crisp, efficient, and ruthless.

"Senior Brother Luo Yuan, that was amazing!" Luo Feng praised him sincerely from the side. He could tell that Luo Yuan had just used Flowing Light and Thunder Blade from the first layer of the Nine-Layered Thunder Blade, and with greater proficiency than his own. In front of Luo Yuan, Luo Feng didn't dare call himself a genius.

"The tendon in a Tiger Cat's tail is worth a lot of money." With a hiss, Luo Yuan's Blood Shadow Battle Blade sliced open the two-tailed Tiger Cat's tail, and he extracted the translucent tendon. That was also why he had struck its head.

"All right, everyone, hurry up and harvest them," Chen Gu said with a smile, beckoning the Fire Hammer Squad over to dissect the Tiger Cat corpses.

"Hm?"

Luo Yuan suddenly tensed. He had sensed danger. With reflexes capable of dodging large numbers of rubber bullets in the Nerve Reaction Test, he recognized it almost instinctively-the blurred streak ahead that was disturbing the air was a bullet!

It was more than ten times faster than the rubber bullets in the Nerve Reaction Test! Luo Feng sensed it too, terror flashing in his eyes.

A life-or-death crisis!

His survival instinct instantly drove Luo Yuan's body and mind to their peak!

Whoosh!

The armor-piercing rounds tore through the air toward Luo Yuan's and Luo Feng's heads.

At that critical instant, Luo Yuan brought the Type B6 Shuttle Shield from his back in front of them both.

Clang! Clang!

Two sparks flashed as the armor-piercing rounds struck the shield, but Luo Yuan blocked both shots.

"Sniper rounds!" Luo Yuan looked at the bullets that had ricocheted away and embedded themselves in the nearby wall. Fury surged within him.

Gao Feng reacted with a furious roar: "Enemy attack!"

"Which bastard was that?!" Wei Tie and Wei Qing shouted as well.

Even as they roared in anger, almost everyone in the Fire Hammer Squad moved swiftly. None of them dared remain standing still in a sniper's sights.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Four gunshots rang out in succession!

"Over there!" Gao Feng, Luo Yuan, Luo Feng, and the others all glared furiously in the direction of the shots.

Several figures flickered across a distant rooftop and disappeared.

"It's the Tiger Tooth Squad!" Gao Feng said through gritted teeth. "Tiger Tooth!"

"The Tiger Tooth Squad? They dared take a shot at me from hiding? They're asking to die!" Luo Yuan snarled, his eyes filled with killing intent.

"This is bad!" Gao Feng's expression changed drastically. "Run!"

The Tiger Tooth Squad had fired six rounds in total. Two had been aimed at Luo Yuan and Luo Feng, while the other four had been fired at the surrounding Beast Horde. Now, angry monster roars were rising all around them. Everyone in the Fire Hammer Squad immediately understood why the Tiger Tooth Squad had fired those four extra shots.

"How vicious."

"They want to kill us all."

"Run!"

Rumble! A huge number of Iron-Haired Wild Boars appeared on the street ahead. Each was enormous, and hundreds thundered toward them together, making the ground shake as though an earthquake had struck. Quite a few were beast general rank. The Fire Hammer Squad blanched. Just as they were about to change direction, violent tremors came from behind them too.

An even larger Beast Horde was charging toward them. It contained not only groups of Single-Horned Wild Boars, but even more groups of Lion Mastiffs. The Beast Hordes ahead and behind numbered over a thousand altogether, and their leader was very likely an Advanced Beast General.

At the sight, despair spread across Gao Feng's face and those of the others.

Looks like I can't keep hiding my strength, or I might die here today. Tiger Tooth Squad, wash your necks and wait for me. Luo Yuan stripped off his gold-trimmed black robe and stuffed it into his backpack, revealing the six Grade 9 Flying Daggers at his waist.

PS: The beginning has been a bit slow, but things are about to heat up. Dear readers, please send tips, add this to your collections, and vote with your monthly tickets! Luo Yuan bows in thanks!